Alex ‘Kanu7’ Millar quits Team PokerStars in Protest

We’ve heard quite a few strong responses from online pros over PokerStars’ decision to change their VIP program. But perhaps Alex Millar has made the strongest statement yet after quitting Team PokerStars in protest over the VIP changes.

Best known by his ‘Kanu7’ handle, Millar has been a high-stakes grinder for quite some time. And he felt so strongly about the matter that he gave up his lofty sponsorship position. Here are a couple tweets from Millar on the matter:

“I’d like to apologise to the players for my complete failure to be able to help in any way with the recent pokerstars VIP changes”

“With @RealKidPoker eventually failing as well I no longer feel I can represent the company and I have now left Team Pro Online”

Prior to quitting Team PokerStars, Millar announced that he hoped to change some minds among PokerStars management. Obviously he wasn’t able to do this as the Supernova Elite level was eliminated along with mid/high-stakes rewards. So Kanu7 sacrificed his sponsorship money over the principle.

In his poker career, Millar has racked up $3,294,787 in cash-game winnings. However, he’s had a rough go of it in 2015 and has lost $136,042. Considering that he won’t be receiving VIP rewards to help with any future losses in 2016, it’s easier to see why the Brit has taken such a strong stance against Stars.

This is actually the second year in a row that a high-profile player has quit Team PokerStars. Victoria Coren-Mitchell did so in 2014, but under different circumstances. In Coren’s case, she didn’t like how parent company Amaya Gaming was pushing Stars towards casino gaming and sports betting. It had always been Coren’s principle that she didn’t want to represent non-skilled gambling, so she quit.